Passing through a spatial rift was a strange experience.
There was a faint sense of pressure, and the sensation itself was cold, like water in late autumn.
Cael shivered slightly, and as the white light before his eyes faded, a relatively open ruined plaza came into view.
The moment he emerged from the rift, the prickling sensation returned to his skin.
Clearly, the Ether concentration in this area was much higher than before.
Broken concrete slabs covered the uneven ground.
At the center of the plaza stood a massive, terrifying figure.
Dullahan.
This time, Cael finally got a clear look at the Ethereal’s entire body.
Its appearance wasn’t too different from the version in the game.
Its right arm formed an Ether-crystal blade, while its left arm bore an extremely thick Ether-crystal shield.
The main differences were its size and the amount of Ether crystal covering its body.
It stood nearly four meters tall.
At the moment, Dullahan remained motionless in the center of the plaza, quietly absorbing Ether energy from its surroundings.
Purely from a design standpoint, this Dullahan actually looked cooler than the one from the game.
[Name]: Dullahan
[Race]: Ethereal
[Level]: 36
[Aberration Traits]: [Evolution] [Gigantification] [Deathrattle] [Rebirth]
Cael frowned.
Something was different.
Its level.
He clearly remembered that during the previous Replay, this Dullahan had been Level 37.
But the one standing before him now was only Level 36.
It was only a difference of one level, but that revealed something important.
Ethereals could level up!
Cael still wasn’t sure what levels specifically represented.
Maybe they were directly related to an individual’s strength?
So Ethereals really could gain levels?
He tried recalling what he knew about Ethereals from the game.
As far as he understood, an Ethereal that survived for a long time could indeed become stronger than a newly born one, so using levels as a general measure of strength made sense.
However, individual Ethereals should still have their own natural limits.
Cael’s gaze moved to the final Trait.
[Evolution].
He’d died too quickly last time to read its description.
[Evolution]: Grants an Ether-based lifeform new possibilities, allowing it to break through its innate limitations.
After certain conditions are met, it will evolve into a higher-level individual and has a chance to acquire new random Traits.
Cael sucked in a cold breath after reading it.
A Trait this broken actually existed?
And Ethereals could have it?
He glanced toward the fox-eared girl beside him.
Level 58 against Level 36.
Whether judging by level or overall combat power, Miyabi completely outclassed this Dullahan.
The moment unfamiliar creatures entered its territory, the previously dormant Dullahan moved.
It pulled its crystalline blade from the ground.
The edge scraped across the concrete, carving a deep groove behind it.
The Ether core on its head pulsed as its entire body turned toward Cael and Miyabi.
Then it leaned forward—
And charged.
When a body over four meters tall came rushing toward them, even the ground trembled beneath its weight.
“Stay back.”
Miyabi stepped in front of Cael.
He immediately ran toward the edge of the plaza and hid behind a section of concrete wall.
He’d come here to help Miyabi, not become a burden.
The fighting was hers to handle.
All he needed to do was watch the battlefield and warn her at the crucial moment.
Her blade left its sheath.
Cael couldn’t even see how Miyabi drew it.
All he saw was a blue arc of light erupt from the scabbard, shaped like a crescent moon as it cut vertically toward Dullahan.
At the same time, Miyabi shot forward.
The hem of her blue jacket stretched into a straight line behind her in the wind.
So fast!
Cael couldn’t help but marvel.
As expected of a martial arts prodigy like Hoshimi Miyabi.
That was the first slash.
Cael couldn’t follow the movement at all, but Dullahan reacted.
Just before the arc of light struck, it raised the crystalline shield on its left arm.
The sound of Ether crystal shattering exploded like breaking glass.
Dullahan’s charge was forcibly stopped, and its massive body staggered two steps backward.
Miyabi didn’t stop.
Her second slash came horizontally.
BOOM!
This strike completely destroyed Dullahan’s Ether-crystal shield, stripping away its defense.
At the same time, Dullahan swung its crystalline blade toward her.
Clang!
The distance was too close for Miyabi to evade.
She pulled her sword back and blocked.
The immense force knocked her several meters backward, her heels scraping a white trail across the ground.
The instant she stopped sliding, Miyabi pushed off hard and rushed at Dullahan again.
She circled the Ethereal, slashing again and again.
Her movements were so fast that Cael could see nothing but a streak of blue light.
“Final strike…
Hoshimi, Draw!”
Miyabi came to a stop.
That final slash completely shattered Dullahan’s core.
For Miyabi, victory was only natural.
Wasn’t it?
Dullahan’s massive body dropped to its knees before crashing face-first into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust half a person high.
Was it over?
No.
Cael stared fixedly at Dullahan’s body.
Miyabi sheathed her sword.
The blade met the mouth of the scabbard with a clear metallic click.
She stood at the edge of the crater, her breathing slightly heavier than before, a thin layer of sweat forming across her forehead.
She was also watching Dullahan’s corpse.
In theory, the Ethereal was already dead.
Miyabi had confidence in her own strength.
And yet, her instincts told her that something wasn’t over.
She just couldn’t tell what was about to happen.
Because even after its core had been destroyed, Dullahan’s corpse hadn’t collapsed into Ether particles.
This Dullahan…
The fox-eared girl’s brows furrowed slightly as though she were thinking—or trying to remember something.
Then the surrounding air began to change.
Ether from all around the plaza started being pulled toward Dullahan’s corpse by some unknown force.
Fast.
Within only a few breaths, the gathered Ether had already formed a small blue-white sphere of light.
The Ether concentration across the entire plaza was skyrocketing!
Miyabi instinctively moved to draw her blade and destroy the sphere.
But just as she was about to strike, Cael shouted.
“Miss Hoshimi!
It’s gathering Ether!
That sphere might explode!”
Her movement froze.
A fleeting ripple passed through her burgundy eyes.
Explode.
It was as though something suddenly clicked into place.
Every instinct in her body screamed a warning.
Then Miyabi moved.
Her figure seemed to skip straight from complete stillness to full speed with nothing in between.
She drew Tailless again.
Cold blue flames wrapped around the blade as a mist-like glow spread outward.
In an instant, it swept across the entire battlefield.
The whole plaza ignited in blue frost-flames.
As those flames rose, the surrounding Ether concentration rapidly began to fall.
“Sever.”
Her voice was low and steady.
She drew a complete circle around the forming blue-white sphere.
Wherever her blade passed, the surging currents of Ether were cut apart.
The chaotic Ether scattered outward before being burned away by the blue flames.
A complete ring of Ether vacuum formed around Dullahan, isolating it from the surrounding Ether environment.
Then the blue-white sphere exploded.
A violent blast swept across the plaza, scattering the cold flames surrounding Tailless.
The blue-white light flashed for only an instant before vanishing.
Most of the shockwave was blocked by the isolated Ether layer, leaving behind a crater only around three meters wide.
Cael had seen everything clearly.
His heart pounded violently.
Just as he’d thought.
As long as Miyabi knew the mechanic, she could deal with it.
He let out a long breath.
But it still wasn’t over.
Dullahan had a second life.
“Miss Hoshimi!
That Dullahan…
I think it’s still alive!”
“I see it.”
Miyabi answered calmly.
Dullahan rose again.
Its shattered Ether core was already beginning to reform.
But this time, the instant the newly reconstructed core took shape—
A flash of sword light cut through it.
The core was destroyed before it could fully stabilize.
Dullahan collapsed.
Multicolored Ether particles spilled from its body, dissolving into wisps of light before fading into the murky air of the Hollow.
It really helps the fic grow!